Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a significant risk factor for chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, and even kidney disease. While adopting a healthy lifestyle is generally recommended, some elderly people still grapple with hypertension. Dr. Chen Junru from Jinghe Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic in Taiwan suggests that to prevent high blood pressure in the elderly, we must first tackle the problem of inflammation.
Hypertension is a result of the accumulation of cholesterol and fats in blood vessel walls, trapping waste products and making the blood vessel walls less elastic. At the same time, the heart must pump harder to circulate blood through constricted pathways, leading to elevated blood pressure. Chen identifies two primary categories of hypertension patients: elderly people with cholesterol accumulation, and younger, overstressed individuals.
